Archive | May, 2008

This morning from my gym on 60th St. overlooking Columbus Circle I saw that there were a few tents on the Central Park side set up. That particular side of the park is quite beautiful and is usually a hot spot for buskers of all kinds: There are Pedicab hawkers, horse drawn carriage rides, those acrobat guys, and occaisaonally these tent people.

Today it happened to be Wii people showing off the newest addition to Nintendo’s home gaming system phenom the Wii. It is called Wii Fit and it is a bit misleading as one would think that it is a device meant to get you in shape which it will not. However it can play a role in your fitness development if you use it correctly.

Actually it is better than I could have written so I have linked to it for you. If you are even remotely interested in getting your body into better shape AND you own the Wii then please read this review.

After 10 years as a personal trainer I felt confident that I knew enough about how to get a person into the best shape of their life but not enough about the current state of fitness in America.

It certainly seems like we are in the middle of a near catastrophic decline in physical culture here. Despite radical advances in the technology of fitness we still only have about 14% of the population enrolled in a health club. But I wasn’t satisfied with just some numbers, I needed to find out firsthand what was going on with fitness in the good ol’ USA.

So I grabbed a camera and a mic and headed out to the annual Cub Industry East fitness trade show to talk with fitness entrepreneurs and other professionals to see…

What’s going on in Fitness?

What I found was that fitness technology has improved by leaps and bounds and some people are creating incredible changes in how we approach fitness, interact with fitness equipment, and develop stronger bodies.

And yet we still seem to be a nation with a steadily growing waistline, so I checked out the new fitness gear and asked around this gathering to see what people were experiencing in American physical culture in 2008.

Here’s a nice little story about the befits of exercise. It reminded me of my Grandmother who grew up in an era when people just didn’t exercise. She lived a long life: 96 years old at the time of her passing. But the last few years were quite difficult because she was bound to a wheelchair and her shoulders and hands had become virtually useless. Had she started exercising when she was younger she might have had an easier and fuller time when she was in her twilight.

I know you know this… but I just wanted to remind you that the benefits of exercise are so pervasive, that not doing it, and not using someone who is well qualified to assist you, is just…